The Pokémon Gods
by Morbane
Summary: This concerns ten graduates of Pokémon Tech. All have Pokémon; some train them, some don't. Their unusual friendship will bring them to the centre of unusual events... Morbane's ongoing serious fic. First 'story arc' complete.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: If you don't own Pokémon, it doesn't matter whether or not I do. If you do own Pokémon, then obviously I don't. That okay with you?

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The Pokémon Gods

by Morbane: A Pokémon Fanfic

the Prologue…

There are ten of them... for the Pokémon Gods. 

Violence is rising all around the world. No matter what city you're in, you don't go out after dark, because the streets won't look familiar. Team Rocket is taking over, pollution is rising and so is terrorism. War looks likely to break out in the Orange Islands. 

And the natural world's answer? To create new Pokémon even more powerful than the Legendaries. But the world isn't ready for them - and when they come, they will be young and vulnerable. So how to prepare - and how to protect them, at least in the beginning…?

Ten teenagers are the key. 


	2. A Month in Cinnamon

Disclaimer: You don't own Pokémon. Or do you? That's the question. But I never said I did - or that I was trying to earn money. There. 

Author's Note: I have called the HM Waterfall, 'waterwall' in my story, and the the HM Whirlpool, 'watergyre'. I hope no confusion is caused. 

Dedication: To all the people at Zeth's Pokémon Library, Oddish's Fanfic Website, and Togepi's Message Board. They are very original and great writers, and they helped me with some information… Of course, they don't know me as 'Morbane' there…

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The Pokémon Gods

by Morbane: A Pokémon Fanfic

Chapter One: A Month in Cinnamon

"Today," Loren told Bluewing, "is _our_ day."

The Mantine looked sideways at her face, chirped questioningly, and waved a fin/wing at the forest on their right, which they were walking past. 

They were supposed to be walking _through_ the Cinnamon Woods, not past them, but today, a week into their new training scheme, Loren had given up. They were getting nowhere. All of the team, including Loren herself, were depressed, and Loren needed to break them out of the cycle. 

"We need a break, so I'm taking you to the city today," Loren explained. 

Her Pokeballs stirred. 

"Yeah, I'll let you out later."

It wasn't as if she didn't have the Pokémon - Mantine, Skarmory, Sunkern, Clefairy, Pikachu, and Charmeleon, and several more back at Professor Cedar's laboratory - but she was no good at training them. 

For whatever reason. 

Everyone expected her to be - 'I mean, gimmeabreak, this is Loren Kisachiro, daughter of two of the League's Masters...' Loren's mother Tara had even been a member of the Elite Four for a few years. 

Most of her supplies - and many of her Pokémon - were gifts from family members, who expected her to beat Gymleaders with them. They were still waiting. After months on the road, Loren still hadn't won a single badge. 

She thought she'd never hear the last of it. Just yesterday, for instance, her mother had called her on the cellphone and talked about a new book that she'd bought on ebay™ and which had just arrived at home. 

"Where shall I send it, darling?" asked Tara. 

"Here in Cinnamonville is fine."

"Oh, are you planning to stay there a while? That's good. Keeping up your training, I guess?"

"Yes, Mum."

"Not going into the town all day?"

"NO, Mum."

"Just wondering - you know, it does seem that way. Your Pokémon's levels are rising very slowly, you know, you can hardly blame your father and I..."

"Well, I have been training."

"Yes... yes, darling. I hope this new book helps."

Loren saw no reason why it should. The last ten hadn't. Most of them combined the basic diet principles with really wacky, unusual ideas. Loren didn't have any psychic Pokémon, for instance, so she saw absolutely no need for her Pokémon all to learn how to interpret and control their dreams. 

In high school it had been so different...

Loren pushed the these thoughts away as they entered Cinnamonville. It was a pretty town. There was a Pokéball maker here, so Loren planned to drop off the various Apricorns she'd collected recently. Then she could give her Pokémon a checkup at the Pokémon Centre, then take them all to a breeder for a session, as a special treat. 

If she couldn't get them more powerful, she might as well make them happy. 

Loren sat quietly through the session, watching and envying the breeder's skill as he gently massaged and groomed Loren's Pokémon. 

"They're in top condition," the breeder, a young man, said appreciatively. "You treat them very well. You're not a trainer, are you?" and when she was slow to respond, "Didn't think so. Most trainers keep their Pokémon at it day in, day out, they rely on the Pokémon Centres to keep their Pokémon in o.k. health."

"Actually," Loren said, "I AM a Pokémon trainer."

"Oh!" The breeder turned and stared at her Pokémon. "You must be a good one. I don't see many Skarmory come by with this kind of sheen to their feathers."

Lance cooed smugly. Loren knew that he was saying, Look! The breeder says that my being healthy proves you're a great trainer! Ha!

"Wishful thinking, Lance." 

"Huh?" The young breeder looked up, startled. 

"Uh, nothing."

After the session every one was energetic, hungry, and refused to get back in their Pokéballs. Loren led them to a park, told them to guard a picnic table set in a nice little clearing, "you too Bluewing," and walked off to get takeaways. 

There was one thing that was making her quite happy about being in town, and that was the fact that her rival wouldn't be there. Sudayo had dared her to spend a month training in the Cinnamon woods, and Loren hoped that Sudayo would stay there almost the entire time. She didn't want to see her rival until the time was up, at which point Sudayo would beat her into the ground. Sudayo, who was also Loren's cousin on her father's side, was a natural Pokémon trainer and battler, and felt no restrictions in showing it. 

Loren ordered food from a little kebab stall in a plaza and then sat on a bench waiting for it to be ready. To pass the time, she got up and walked around the plaza, looking at all the little stalls. *Cool place,* she thought. *I really should spend more time actually in this city. It won't hurt to take a day off from training, anyway, to wander round.*

"TIINE!"

At that cry, Loren raced into the middle of the plaza, scanning the skies for Bluewing. He dived onto her shoulder, chirped urgently, and took off again. "Okay, Bluewing, I'm coming!" Loren ran along the streets of Cinnamonville, wondering what had been so urgent that Bluewing had needed her. 

"HEY YOU! GIRL! Come back!" Loren stopped and turned around, beginning to pant. 

Oh, ***! She still held the last piece of merchandise she'd been looking at, in her hand. And that was the shop owner!

"I'm really sorry! Catch!" Loren yelled, not having enough time to go back. She drew her arm back for an overarm pitch and sent it hurtling towards the shop owner. 

He reached for it but it slipped out of his grasp and fell hard on the pavement. Something in it tinkled. 

Oh damn. Now she was going to have to sort it out. She cringed. 

"You're going to have to pay for it now," the stall vendor yelled, reddening. Loren turned and jogged back. 

"How much is it," she asked resignedly, and handed over the the money, avoiding the vendor's eyes. The item was expensive, too. She slipped it into her shouldersack and returned to Bluewing. 

Jogging steadily, Loren reached the park five minutes later. 

"I want the Pikachu!" she heard a voice yell. "Get out of the way, Sunkern!"

"Just one more flamethrower on that Clefairy, Cyndaquil!"

"Charger!" Loren shouted as loud as possible. "Defend with Fire Spin! Keep it above the grass!" A blaze of light flickered from the clearing. She wasn't too far away now. 

*Damn, girl! What a stupid mistake! You know your Charmeleon can't control Fire Spin! ...Well, it should drive the trainers back... I'll tell her to stop now and use Smoke Screen. That's a lot easier to control.*

"Drop it, Charger! Smoke Screen! Sand Attack, Lance!"

The flames shivered raggedly and went out with a puff and a hiss. Smoke filled the glade and billowed out. 

"Pidgeotto! Gust it away!" someone else's voice commanded. 

Loren reached the clearing and stopped, leaning against the picnic table as she got her breath. The smoke cleared and she found herself facing five trainers and three Pokémon. 

"WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO WITH MY POKÉMON?!" she yelled above their orders. 

"They're yours?" the tallest of the two girls asked, taking the offensive, as she added, "Well, what kind of a trainer are you, leaving your Pokémon out of your Pokeballs and on their own?"

If they wanted to play that way... "They're usually fine... when not being attacked by trainers who can't tell the difference between wild and trained Pokémon!" 

She quickly scanned the Cyndaquil, Pidgeotto, and Nidorino standing in front of her with their trainers. "What kind of trainers are YOU? Do you ever clip your Nidorino's toenails? Your Cyndaquil obviously doesn't get the right supplements in its diet and I bet it takes ages to heat up at the beginning of battle. And when did you last give your Pidgeotto a week's rest? I could hardly tell the difference between it and a wild one! And they say Pokémon_ benefi_t from being trained!" 

There was a very shocked pause. 

Hah! See what they think of that! Then, suddenly, Loren was worried. They were going to think she was such a b**** now. She could think of other words they were going to call her. She remembered Sudayo's most recent insults, about her total lack of friends... and the reasons for that.

"Look," Loren said very fast, "I didn't really mean to insult your training abilities - I mean, I know sometimes training takes a lot out of you and it's kind of hard to know when to pamper and when to push your Pokémon, but you kinda made me REALLY mad by attacking my Pokémon, I mean they were all in a group together out in the open and you don't usually see wild Pokémon acting like that!"

"Pokémon battle." Said one of the three boys, touching his weary-looking Pidgeotto. 

Now Loren was actually angry. Lance cawed once behind her, warningly, as her hands curled up, hiding her stubby nails. 

"I'm sorry, I'm not battling today. Unlike you, I respect my Pokémon's limits and I don't make them battle any time an idiot challenges me over personal issues. And did you know that on the first page of the Trainer Code booklet is a rule saying 'don't use Pokémon to settle personal disputes'? That's barely better than fighting it out.

"So," Loren finished sweetly, "I refuse your challenge."

&

Twenty minutes later, Loren was stomping along a quiet lane in Cinnamonville, heading for the Pokémon Center so that her team could be healed before they finally had their delayed lunch. Bluewing, anxiously chirping, seemed to feel guilty for his mistress's bad mood. 

"'S'not your FAULT, Bluewing," Loren muttered. "You did the right thing."

Yeah, I know, Bluewing replied. But you're still in a bad mood, for some reason.

Loren was surprised. When not actually asked for conversation, Bluewing usually just 'talked' using the Mantine equivalent of "hmmm" "mmhmm" and "mmm". Even yes and no were rare. 

She called out Lance, who was in perfect condition, and sent him, with money, to collect the kebabs she'd ordered. It was probably quite a normal thing to do here; Cinnamonville was a popular town for Pokémon trainers. 

By the time Lance was back, her Pokémon were healed, and they were all sitting around a table eating lunch in the Pokémon Center canteen, Loren was feeling a lot more positive.

She ran her eyes down her checklist. She had a few errands to run; nothing major. 

"Anyone got any ideas for what they want to do today?"

No response. Her Pikachu and Clefairy looked up guiltily from the table, where they had been trying to steal some of her Charmeleon's hummus. "Watch your food, Charger," she murmured. Charger growled softly and waved her tail from side to side in the two Pokémon's separate directions. Sunkern, Lance and Bluewing shrugged in Pokémon fashion. 

So half an hour later, Loren, feeling like a good Pokémon trainer, was sitting fairly high up on the seats of a covered stone arena, which was the Cinnamon Gym. Below her, two kids younger than her little brother were duking it out with a Pidgey and a Rattata. Loren decided she wasn't going to need her strategy notebook. 

"So, which Pokémon would you rather be in this situation?" she asked her team dutifully. 

Pidgey, said Bluewing, it can fly.

Same, said Lance. 

Rattata, it's got teeth, said Charger in a gangster-type hiss. 

Pidgey, it's older, said her Pikachu and Clefairy together. 

Rattata, said Sunkern, they have more interesting lives.

Loren gave up. 

She was discussing a TV program with Sunkern when five particular trainers walked in. *I don't need this,* thought Loren. 

"Hey YOU," yelled one of the boys. "I thought you weren't battling today?"

"I'm NOT! I'm WATCHING!" Loren yelled back. 

"Still scared?"

"Still immature?"

"How can you be a Pokémon trainer if you don't battle? That's what training is all about!"

*Got him there!* "Need I reply?" That guy had lost the argument. There were many other observers dotted around the arena, and most of them would disagree. Pokémon wasn't just battling; that was a little kid's answer. 

One of those observers stood up. "So,_ traine_r. You're not familiar around here, but you seem to have very strong opinions on the ideals of Pokémon training. Care to tell us what they are?"

The tone was light, but the speaker's manner wasn't, and Loren saw that she was being put to a very important test. *This is just not my day. Earth, Water, Fire and Air, how do I say this? I'm going to bungle up like that kid down there.*

This can't be any worse than the essay that clinched your title of Pokémon Tech Top Student, Bluewing chirped. 

*I wasn't THE top student, Bluewing dear. I was one of them,* Loren thought. Sometimes she suspected Bluewing was a telepath, although the Water/Flying type wasn't ostentatiously psychic. 

"Well, you might say that I'm an idealist," she began, "because my visions of Pokémon training follow closely to ideals. I think you have to be friends with Pokémon, that you have to understand them, and that your choices should not always be based on Speed or Special Defence, but sometimes on whether you and a Pokémon have compatible personalities. 

"You have to know a lot about Pokémon too. There is no use in having the skills to capture a Chansey if you don't know what it eats or whether it needs daily Vitamin C tablets, which, by the way, it does. And a lot of soy protein. If your Pokémon learns a new attack, you need to know exactly what it is and what its statistics are. You shouldn't need to check its power by Pokedex.

"Battling is fine, but it is not merely the most obvious way of showing your skills. It is also important as part of a fitness routine. And even if battling is your way of life, you need to remember that other things are important for your Pokémon - like rest, new things and situations, having fun every now and then, and meeting their own goals. 

"I'm not really into the battle side of Pokémon training. Partly because I'm not too good at it. Partly because I find that people obsessed with battling don't take the time to explore their Pokémon's personalities, and burn them out too quickly. Having a level 100 Pokémon is not as important as having a Pokémon whom you understand as well as it understands you. If you think that raising a Pokémon to level 100 is the best way to develop its personality, though, I'm not going to interfere; I just have different opinions."

"Thank you, that's enough," the boy said dryly. He was tall and lanky, with longish dark brown hair and an almost olivey complexion. His eyes were also dark, and serious. Maybe just a little humorous too. "What's your name?"

"Loren, of Cianwood City."

"Cianwood... I suppose that accounts for the Mantine. Well, Loren, if that's your opinion of the trainer theory, I'd like to test your skills on the practical. I challenge you to a four-on-four Pokémon match."

Everyone collectively gasped. Loren wasn't sure why. "Umm.. you may have heard that I'm not battling today. I like to give my Pokémon breaks every now and them, and today was supposed to be one of them."

"I see I haven't introduced myself," the boy said. A grin escaped his control and turned into a smirk somewhere along the way. "I am Dylan, the gymleader of Cinnamonville." 

"Oh," said Loren, and there wasn't really anything she could say, except, "Could we make that three on three?" Because you can't decline a formal challenge from a gymleader unless you have a serious medical reason. Usually it's you challenging them, not the other way around. Dylan nodded, accepting her modification. 

She didn't even know the gym's specialty. But that was easy enough; clearing the arena, Dylan called out a Jolteon. 

Jolteon were fast and accurate, and Loren decided to go for the type advantage. "Go, Sunkern!" she commanded. Her Sunkern, at level 26, was her second-highest-levelled Pokémon, and because of his species' usual bad stats, she had fed him extra nutrients (such as Calcium and Protein) as often as was healthy. Besides, Grass Pokémon were a decent match against Electric types. 

"Sunkern, Growth!"

"Jolteon, Pin Missile!"

*Good choice of attack, I think. His Jolteon seems only to focus on one thing at a time. While she's attacking, she's not prepared for a counter attack. But Sunkern can attack at the same time as he receives one.*

"Sunkern, Wrap!" Two vines extended from Sunkern's sides and tied Jolteon up like a parcel. With a twitch, he had her lying helplessly on her back. *Hey, that was easier than I thought!*

"Jolteon, Thunderbolt!"

Loren took a risk, something she did often in Pokémon battles. 

"Giga Drain!"

The fact that Jolteon was pouring her electricity down Sunkern's vines made it easy for Sunkern to draw even more power from the Pokémon. The risk here, of course, was that her Sunkern would not be able to handle the increased voltage zapping through his tendrils. 

Because by pulling energy from Jolteon at the same time as she sent it to him, Sunkern was helping her hurt him, lowering his own resistance to her electricity. Which was already weak, since Dylan's champion was in physical contact with Loren's. 

Sunkern paled with concentration, trying to get the electricity he was drawing from Jolteon to flow harmlessly into the ground, while at the same time absorbing the HP he was also drawing from her. She was obviously a lower level than he was, and she fainted. "Not bad at all, Jolteon," Dylan murmured. *Not bad at all, Loren,* his opponent told herself. 

Loren, I'm not up to any more battling, Sunkern said. 

"Understood. And that's MORE than fine." 

She recalled him, then released him on the steps behind her. (It saved either of them the journey). She knew without looking behind that Charger and Lance were pulling Potions out of her bag and using them on their teammate. In this, at least, they had had a lot of practise. 

Dylan's next Pokémon was a Pikachu, and Loren couldn't resist. "Shimmerzag, why don't you have a go?" 

Are you crazy? Loren's Pikachu retorted. 

"No. Have fun." 

Shimmerzag's ears dipped as she considered this, then they perked up again with Pikachu mischief. Dylan definitely raised his eyebrows. It wasn't generally a good idea to match a gymleader's Pokémon with one of the same evolutionary chain AND stage. He didn't comment, though. Probably saving that for after the battle. 

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt." He said. 

"Speed up, Shimmerzag."

But Loren wasn't dumb. Electricity takes the shortest and easiest route to its destination whenever it can, and the easiest route for Dylan's Pikachu's Thunderbolt was through Shimmerzag, wherever she was in the arena. "Quick Attack," Loren said, timing Shimmerzag's impact for just after when her opponent had released the Thunderbolt. It came down and struck them both equally. 

"Shimmerzag, Tail Whip, then Slam!" Oops. Loren covered her mouth as she realised her mistake. In battle, you almost never call out a sequence of moves - just one at the time. When you call out a move that your Pokémon isn't going to use just yet, you give the Pokémon you're battling the opportunity to prepare for it. And your opponent gets your gameplan, free. 

"Thundershock, Pikachu," said Dylan. His Pokémon sent concentrated voltage down Shimmerzag's tail, making her wince. 

"Shimmerzag, don't fight it! Absorb it, relax!" This was one thing that they had never managed to perfect in training. Shimmerzag unclenched her paws and absorbed a little of the shock. But most of it decreased her HP, because she couldn't resist it as well as an electric-type should. 

Dylan's eyebrows went up further. But Loren was still confident. Six years ago, when she had been allowed to choose one Pichu from a group of seven, she hadn't chosen the most powerful or the most speedy. She had chosen the one that was the hardest to catch, the most observant, and the most ingenious; and she had chosen Shimmerzag because she liked the little rat. The two had gotten on so well that the Pichu had evolved two levels later, at level 3. On a stats chart, Shimmerzag looked less than impressive. Her Special Defense dipped way below average, and the rest of her stats were just average. But a stats chart doesn't show intelligence quotient, or measure friendship. 

So Loren wasn't down yet. "Shimmerzag, thundershock!" Shimmerzag nodded, crouching down to the ground so that her opponent couldn't see her cheeks, then leaping up to release the shock. Dylan's Pikachu leaned back a little, taking the shock with ease. 

"Pikachu, Thunderwave," Dylan commanded. *Oh oh*. 

Again, Shimmerzag received the full attack without absorbing much. She stiffened, with a very small "Chu," and hunched down. 

"Pikachu, Slam!" Dylan called. "Front on!" Apparently, he was aiming for the highest possible effect on Shimmerzag's morale; no Pokémon liked being hit in the face. 

Loren grinned. This required only a very small movement from her partially paralysed Pikachu. "Shimmerzag, get ready!" A Pikachu's claws are not very long or sharp, which is why they don't tend to learn attacks like Scratch or Slash. But hitting them is a little like throwing yourself up against a blunt tack. Shimmerzag was setting Dylan's Pikachu up for exactly that sensation; at the last moment, she raised her arms, and Pikachu hit Shimmerzag's claws instead of her head and chest. 

Dylan's Pikachu recoiled from the attack with a pitiful "Chuuu...", probably hurt more by the attack than Shimmerzag. "Shimmerzag," Loren said, "try the agility stretches."

This was another weak point of Loren's training. Shimmerzag could never remember the exact sequence of stretches that Loren tried to teach her to help her use Agility, and so instead, she started with her cheeks, went on to her tail, then one foot after another... These stretches were supposed to help flexibility and Loren had hoped that they would help Shimmerzag shake off her Thunderwave-induced stiffness. 

Loren had a feeling that she wouldn't be able to see Dylan's eyebrows if she looked - they'd be lost in his hair. _"Agilit_y, Pikachu," the gymleader said. 

What happened next was unexpected. Shimmerzag somehow stopped wigglying her limbs like an upturned bug and began to stretch properly. "YOU GO GIRL!" yelled Loren, delighted and wondering if she had any Rare Candy left. 

Shim-mer-ZAG! Clefairy and Bluewing yelled in unison. 

"Keep going, Pikachu!" Dylan yelled, as his Pokémon continued with agility, building up her speed. At this rate, Shimmerzag would never be able to catch up. But now she had finally got rid of the paralysis and, without waiting for direction, she began to use Agility. 

Now this was something to watch. The two yellow Pokémon appeared only as blurs around the arena, but soon the blurs began to show a pattern. The two Pikachu weaved around each other in an intense dance. "Pikachu, you'll need to use Quick Attack now," Dylan said sharply. 

Loren sighed. It was, of course, the right move, taking advantage of Pikachu's increased speed before Loren's own Pikachu also reached the maximum level of speed. "Leap up, Shimmerzag, and begin to charge." 

Dylan's Pikachu couldn't effect an air tackle, continuing Agility without instructions. Shimmerzag surprised Dylan with Thunderwave, and now it was Shimmerzag's turn to run circles around her opponent. 

"Quick Attack, Shimmerzag, make it your best!" Dylan's Pikachu was knocked back, and Shimmerzag finished her with Slam. 

The audience gasped. 

Shimmerzag tottered back to Loren and her team. "Well done, Shimmerzag," Loren whispered. "That was worth every defeat we've ever suffered." She turned back to face the gymleader. 

On the other side of the arena, Dylan's eyes narrowed. It was true, Loren thought, that she had won both battles with a large amount of luck, but she had still won them, and her Pokémon had come through. She was winning a Gym match... and drunk on adrenaline, she decided to challenge this Gymleader's authority once and for all. 

"Bluewing!" she announced. Dylan looked disappointed, calling out what was probably his strongest Pokémon, a male Ampharos. 

"Halcyon!" he yelled. 

Mantine and Ampharos took the time to size each other up silently before they struck. "Supersonic, Bluewing!"

"Tackle, Halcyon." Bluewing immediately stopped his attack and glided out of the way. He was disadvantaged in this gym. Mantine are unable to fly very far or high; they are best at gliding, and of course, swimming. They are amphibians, with very small, tough taloned flipper-paws that usually lie flat against their stomachs when in the air or water, however, they have a hard time on land. 

At the moment, Bluewing was intelligently trying to avoid contact with Halcyon, whose electricity would then overpower him. This strategy would at least prevent Halcyon from using the powerful Ampharos attack, Thunderpunch. 

But Loren had a different idea. 

"Bluewing, PERCH!"

Loren could_ no_t repress a smirk as Dylan - and most of the audience - looked around for something that her Mantine could perch on. But the command was completely clear to Bluewing. With his antenna crossed briefly in a Mantine grin, he slipped air and plummeted down in a curve that had his wingspan_ verticall_y spread... and landed... on the back of Halcyon's neck. One flipper-claw was positioned exactly in each of the two spaces between the three rings on the neck of the Ampharos. As Halcyon bent helplessly, Bluewing pushed off, sending the Ampharos stumbling forward. 

Loren BEAMED. Her face just split open as she mentally replayed what her first and favourite Pokémon had just done. 

*We are having a celebration party after this,* she thought. *Whether I win or not.* Behind her, all the rest of her team was cheering. Even Pikachu, supported by Clefairy – although unlike the others, she wasn't in any condition to bounce up and down. 

Loren's Skarmory, in his excitement, looked as ridiculous as an uppity giant chicken. 

Back to the battle – Ampharos was furious. He was charged up with an ionic aura that fizzed and spat. High above him, Bluewing flapped, relying on his height rather than speed. 

And Halcyon miscalculated the Mantine's height with his first attempt to shock his opponent. The thundershock leapt into the air and fell short. It made Halcyon madder. The second shock hit, as Bluewing swooped tantalisingly lower. But to Ampharos' brief surprise, nothing seemed to happen. 

Loren grinned. If they didn't get it, she didn't think she'd spell out exactly what Bluewing had done. It should be obvious…

"But it's got a double weakness!" some hapless observer gasped. "How's it doing that!"

Dylan snapped out, "P. R. O. T. E. C. T."

THAT member of the audience was Out of the Royal Favour. 

Another thundershock missed, and in the breath just after Halcyon had flung the attack, just before he had regained his electrical field, Bluewing landed on the ground behind the Ampharos and aimed Supersonic at the back of his head. 

It was too close to miss. Halcyon reeled – unfortunately, he reeled backwards. 

Bluewing was effectively trapped, because he would have no time to get out of the way if Halcyon stumbled into him. He flapped up, slowly, gained control, and began to panic, because he was too close to Halcyon, and Mantine cannot gain height quickly. He readied Bubblebeam in his mouth. 

"Not Bubblebeam!" Loren yelled. "BUBBLE!"

With one slight falter, Bluewing obeyed - "And glide backwards!" she continued. Bubblebeam would have shown Ampharos exactly where Bluewing was, and was not strong enough to KO the electric Pokémon. But Bubble would help to confuse Halcyon, and aid in Bluewing's next move - 

Gliding - it was something he_ coul_d do well in the air. Using his jet of bubbles to help propel himself backwards, he tilted his wings to coast backwards, landing on his stomach on the ground, a good distance away from Halcyon, who had just tripped over his foot. 

"Cotton Spore, Halcyon!" Dylan cried. 

Halcyon got up - but now Bluewing was up in the air, rising higher and higher above the audience. A few spores reached him, not enough to make a difference. 

"Thundershock!" Dylan called. 

Loren saw it as if in slow motion - 

Bluewing was still straining up, still inside Halcyon's range. Every wingbeat seemed agonisingly lethargic; the Ampharos' furious lightning rose and rose... If Halcyon hit Bluewing, he would practically have won. So far Bluewing had been succeeding because Halcyon's electricity hadn't touched him - but if it caught him now, while he was putting all his energy into flying upwards, he would fall and Halcyon could finish him off. And Loren's other two fighters, although they were technically undefeated, were not really in a condition to fight any more. 

Only the tip of the thundershock touched Bluewing, and his next wingbeat carried him out of range. 

Shimmerzag let out a fierce cry of delight. Now _Bluewing_ had won. Loren didn't even need to call out the next sequence of moves. 

Bluewing reached a point directly above Halcyon, and stayed there, 'hovering' with long, deep wingbeats. Then his antennae twisted, and writhed, and a ring of water appeared in the air around him. 

It fell, more and more cool rings plummeting after it, and Bluewing's tail began to move in a circular motion. 

The HM Waterwall. Then HM Watergyre. 

Halcyon shot electricity upwards desperately, but couldn't reach Bluewing. The Ampharos was obviously smart enough to realise that if he stepped through the wall of water, his electricity would backfire onto himself. He was too low-level to know Light Screen, so he resorted to Growl. 

But the water drowned him out. He crouched into a defensive position, and the water closed over him. Dylan watched his Ampharos uneasily, hands clenched. He didn't give Halcyon any orders. 

Near the bottom of the hollow column of water, the water raged, twisting itself round into a vortex that pummelled Halcyon ruthlessly. Bluewing's calm, dry, steadily flapping figure could scarcely be connected with the whirlpool, which twisted itself up, and up, and up. Before it reached him, Bluewing's antennae strained again – and the rings of water stopped coming from thin air, and the waterfall fell. 

To reveal a sodden, shaken Ampharos. And Bluewing tilted, angled straight down, and dived vertically straight at Halcyon in a brutal, conclusive Take Down attack. Halcyon fainted. 

&

The whole audience broke loose. As if startled, Lance took flight, and flew towards Dylan. The gymleader dodged the first pass, then realised what the Skarmory wanted and showed him the badge of his gym. "I've got to give it to _her_," he yelled at Lance. Halcyon stirred and growled at Lance, and Dylan quickly recalled him. 

"Come _back_ here, Lance," Loren yelled, while Shimmerzag and Clefairy giggled. She ran to Bluewing, picked him up, and strode forward to meet the gymleader. He had to raise his voice to be audible over the crowd – "I, Dylan, Electric Gymleader of Cinnamonville, present Trainer Loren of Cianwood with the Blitz Badge!"

&

It was evening by now. Euphoric, Loren and her team returned to the Pokémon Centre in a kind of triumphal procession. Not one of the six Pokémon was in a Pokéball. Shimmerzag and Sunkern had taken a shoulder each, while Bluewing claimed her lower arm – under any other circumstance, Loren would have been growling with the combined weight, but now, she didn't care. 

As they walked through the door of the Pokémon centre, Joy greeted them with a grin. "What should I congratulate you on?"

"The Blitz Badge!" Loren declared. "Fought by Shimmerzag, Sunkern and Bluewing," (she indicated with her hand). 

A sudden hush from the other trainers, and virtually everyone else within the centre. Then applause; her three fighters were given a practical _shower_ of Potions and Berries; Shimmerzag shamelessly jumped up to grab a Przecure Berry from an offering trainer; and everyone wanted to shake her hand. 

Five minutes later it had all died down, and a few other trainers pulled her over to the counter and made her describe the battle while Shimmerzag, Sunkern and Bluewing waited in the queue for the rejuvenation machines. 

And that, too, died down. Tired and happy, Loren and her team thanked them all, tipped Nurse Joy, and set off towards the Cinnamon Woods again. 

It was part of the bet she'd made with Sudayo. She had to sleep in the woods every night, until the bet was up. 

Finding that she did, indeed have a bit of Rare Candy left, Loren broke it out among her six Pokémon, and they stayed up, celebrating around the campfire, until well past 2:am. 

&

The gymleader of Cinnamon also stayed up. Not so happily. 

Dylan sat in the gym office, slumped in a chair. Almost all of the light in the office came from the center security screen, in front of him, which was replaying his battle with Loren of Cianwood, again. 

He switched to a different screen, rewound it, and watched her progress into the gym, and how she'd acted with her Pokémon. He got bored pretty quickly. Back to the centre screen; he watched her Mantine perch on Halcyon's neck, startle the Ampharos, defend himself with Protect, and confuse his opponent. 

"Where have I seen that battling style before?" he muttered, resting his forehead on his right hand. 

"I very much doubt you _have_," his prize Pokémon replied, from behind him. He sighed. 

"Didn't mean to wake you, Caira..." 

"You can't. I have psychic control over my waking and sleeping." The rare feline didn't sigh, but he got the message. She didn't speak either - not really, not in Pokémon language, but in a sort of psychic sound-illusion-projection that gave the impression she'd talked. 

"That was an odd variation on the style of fighting which belongs to Syuto." She continued. "You've never been there." 

"Syuto?" He turned round fully in the swivel-chair, regarding her. Syuto was the region beyond the northern mountains. There was little traffic between it and the Southern World. 

She met his eyes with her great golden ones, then yawned. "I'm going back to sleep." She blinked again, then curled her huge dark-gray body up in the corner. 

He turned restlessly back to the battle display. The girl's Mantine finished his two HM moves, and used Take Down, and Halcyon fell. 

He'd thought he would go easy on her! And she'd given him his first defeat in a year! *Never underestimate your damn oponent, Dylan.*

She'd used a Sunkern - a Pokémon species with no battling potential to speak of. She'd used a Pikachu that couldn't absorb electricity. And she'd used a Mantine, a Pokémon which was completely vulnerable to electricity. She'd _won_. 

She had to have the best Pokémon rapport he'd ever seen. Because, looking back at the tape, he could pick her battling style to pieces. If his Jolteon had used Agility then Sand Attack first, she would have defeated the Sunkern. If his Pikachu had kept using electric attacks after he'd used Thunderwave, Loren's 'Shimmerzag' would have practically short-circuited. If Halcyon had been able to land a millivolt of electricity on the Mantine, the Mantine would have lost. 

If. 

Hindsight was so, so perfect. 

He was just glad he hadn't had any more challenges for the rest of the evening. He'd put his Pokémon through the Gym rejuvenator, and they were still in it. Although Caira could have answered a challenge, being psychic/ electric. 

*The first time I actually _issue_ a challenge, instead of receiving one, I get hammered. It could only have been worse if her Mantine had fought all three of my Pokémon... she _hammered me!_*

Back to Loren then. He needed to find out more about her. 

He called up the League database on his laptop, searching for her name. 

*So she comes from Pokémon Tech. She's trained... 22 different species of Pokémon, including evolved forms.* "I don't believe it! That was her first badge!" He'd hadn't meant to speak aloud. Instinctively, he turned and looked at Caira. Her tail twitched irritably, although the rest of her looked fast asleep. He turned back. "Loren Kisachiro... that must mean her parents are Tara and Anthony. _Tara and Anthony_! No wonder she's good..." 

Tara had been a Rock Gymleader from Cameo Town in Southeast Kanto. Then she'd gone on to the League, become a Master almost immediately, and an Elite not long after. She'd dropped out of the Elite Four after the Cloudwraith had been vanquished, and married the skilled Bug trainer Anthony, also one of the League's Masters. *Some impressive family history here.*

But he was more interested in Loren herself. He went back to the Pokémon Tech records. Along with a picture of her, nine other people, and some Pokémon, there was a short article claiming her to be the top Pokémon Tech Graduate of last year. Along with the nine other people... who were apparently her best friends. 

They looked deliriously happy. 

Dylan checked Pokédex records. None of the Pokémon Loren had seemed especially remarkable, although they varied a lot. And that was all the information he could find. He sighed, stretched, and regarded her picture again on the central security screen, as the tape went again past the point where she brought out her Pikachu. 

She didn't look remarkable either. As fit as most Pokémon trainers, who needed to keep in shape; tallish, almost his height. Long wispy dark-brown hair with subtle green highlights, and brown eyes. It was interesting the way she'd balanced between hair trends; that of keeping your hair colour and style completely natural, and that of permanently dying it a rainbow shade. 

Loren looked like an okay person to travel with. If she could cook, that was. 

It wasn't an entirely new idea of Dylan's. He'd wanted to begin his journey again for months. And it was Caira's idea that he should travel with someone else. He'd argued, but she was **stubborn**. 

His Pokémon had finally won him over with the argument that on a journey he was undertaking solely for security reasons, it only made sense to take safety precautions. And however good he thought he was, he wasn't prepared for everything. 

As a trainer from Cianwood had just shown him. 

He could offer her his battling knowledge for the favour of travelling with her. Caira could help negotiate. 

He stared at the display screen for a while, but by the time the tape had reached his defeat again, he had begun typing a message out on the laptop, to wait for Loren at the Pokémon centre. 

&

Thanks for everyone. Especially Briar, Lightning-Strike, tremor3258, Maiku Zwei, and Zita the Celestial Houndoom. You who are reading should know that these people are very good writers themselves - although in the case of Zita, I couldn't find anything she/he had written. *puzzled*. Could ZtCH, or anyone who knows ZtCH, kindly direct me? Thanks. And people, I've tried to implement your comments…


	3. Babes in the Wood

Disclaimer: If you own Pokémon, you'll know that I don't. And you can see that I know that I don't. And you should know that I know that I don't. So I conclude that you know that I know that you know that I don't own Pokémon, because you do. If you DON'T own Pokémon, disregard the above. 

Author's Note: I have called the HM Waterfall, 'waterwall' in my story, and the the HM Whirlpool, 'watergyre'. I hope no confusion is caused. 

Dedication: To all the people at Zeth's Pokémon Library, Oddish's Fanfic Website, and Togepi's Message Board. They are very original and great writers, and they helped me with some information… Of course, they don't know me as 'Morbane' there…

Reader's Aid: You may get a bit confused between Loren's Pokémon and their nicknames. Here are who the nicknames refer to:

Shimmerzag: Loren's Pikachu

Bluewing: L's Mantine

Charger: L's Charmeleon

Lance: L's Skarmory

Clear: L's Clefairy

Caira: A Blitzkat

Halcyon: Dylan's Ampharos

Moon: You're going to find out. 

__

The Pokémon Gods

by Morbane: A Pokémon Fanfic

Chapter Two: Babes in the Wood

Morning!

"Morning," Loren said, sitting up in her sleeping bag as she identified her Clefairy's voice. "You're a perfect alarm clock, you know that, Clear? You've even cheerful." She checked her Pokégear; it was 6:02am, Thursday 10th April. Three days since their Gym victory. Life went on. 

Sometimes, Loren thought, it went on too quickly. She was already wondering how much the victory mattered, and whether it had just been a fluke anyway. She made breakfast and ate some, thinking about her past failures. She led her Pokémon in their usual morning exercises, telling herself that it was just post-success aftershock, and she'd feel better later. 

For the last few days their routine had been the same again. Sometimes it could be fun - they all tried to come up with new ideas for things to do - but mostly it was just plain hard work. 

As Loren reflected, raising herself off the ground for yet another push-up, sometimes this was good. Sometimes it meant you were making progress. 

Or sometimes, it made you feel like you were getting nowhere. 

Next, they had a short break, then Loren's Pokémon went systematically through each of their moves. Loren practised the basic fighting exercises that Chiyo had taught her, in their last year at Pokémon Tech. 

She missed Chiyo and everyone else from there. 

What were they doing now? She'd talked to them last month; every month they made it their priority to spend one hour together, in a voice-conference call. And they emailed each other... so she knew where most of them were right now. Proxy was in some western city, working with Porygon; Midori was near the Kanto border, on her mother's research station. Lia was with another Professor... she wasn't sure where. Luke was going on a godforsaken trip up to the icy islands north of Syuto and... She stepped wrongly, not concentrating, and into the path of Sunkern's Vine Whip. 

"I'm sorry," she said, as he disintangled himself from her. Serve her right though, she was going to have a bruise or two. She cleared her mind and continued the routine. 

Next, four of the Pokémon would pair up and fight mock-battles, while she would work with the fifth, and the last Pokémon would be set a task. Today it was Bluewing who went off to the stream by himself and practised diving in and rising out. Loren took Lance to the side; Charger worked with Shimmerzag and Sunkern, with Clear. 

She sharpened Lance's wings as she watched the two pairs duel. The metal his feathers were made of was actually not steel, but hollow, light aluminium, although covered with a very thin steel coating to protect the inner structure and make a sharp blade. However, they did become blunt from time to time, and so, with a little help from Charger, Loren was tempering them again. 

In a blessings-counting mood, she reflected that she was lucky to have such good rapports with her Pokémon. Many other Pokémon might have resented her for telling them to do something they weren't capable of, in a dangerous situation, but Charger had almost immediately forgiven her for the stupid "Fire Spin" order of Monday. They _did_ trust her, and it was reassuring. 

Nevertheless, Charger gave her an oblique look as the Pokémon changed over, and it was the Charmeleon's turn with Loren. 

"Yeah, I know," Loren said quietly. "It was a stupid idea, telling you to do Fire Spin. I wasn't thinking, and you came through very, very well..." They hadn't talked about the near-accident until now. 

I shouldn't have obeyed. Charger said. But I just _did_...

That was Loren's fault. She had misused the trainer's-bond, giving her Charmeleon such a strong command that it would have been nearly impossible to disobey. She tried to answer past a growing lump in her throat. "I should _never_ have given that order." 

But at least you thought fast afterwards, Charger said, with a little more gentleness. You ordered me to drop it, and you ordered Lance to use Sand Attack just in case...

"I was only just in time, wasn't I?"

You were in time, Charger replied... Which meant that she had averted disaster by luck. 

Loren waited; there was more. 

I could have killed them. Charger said. 

"_No_," Loren said urgently, "Lance would have used Sand Attack anyway if you'd lost control; he would have suffocated the fire. Sunkern could have helped; Bluewing was there."

I could have killed all of them, Pokémon and humans. If I had lost control the fires would have been too big for Lance to extinguish immediately. The picnic table would have caught fire; the humans' clothes would have caught fire. And you know what would have happened... She paused. The Pidgeotto's feathers would have started to burn. The Cyndaquil would have just... dissolved into the flames, trying to get control of them... he was too small.

"_I'm_ _sorry_..." Loren whispered, blinking. She'd failed her Pokémon's trust. She'd failed Charger. She could see that Charger had been thinking about it a lot, visualising it, remembering it. 

They didn't die, Charger stated. I was about to lose control... I would have... but I didn't. You told me to drop it. Thank you.

"_Thanks_? Charger, Charger, it was my _fault_! I was only lucky I realised and cancelled your action... That should never have happened! Never! I don't want it to happen again!" 

I know you caused it. 

Loren gulped back the lump. 

And I know you prevented the disaster. You mended the situation with your next action. I forgive you.

"Charger..." Her third Pokémon, the Kanto starter, had given Loren the most powerful, dangerous gift a Pokémon could give his or her trainer. Complete, unconditional trust. "Charger..."

Enough, she said. I trust you. Now, she paused... Now, we're going to work on Fire Spin. I don't want it to happen again either... It won't. 

And at Charger's calm determination, Loren finally broke down. Her tears splashed down Charger's back; they were warm enough, and impure enough, not to hurt the fire lizard. 

"It's not fair!" she wailed. "I...I... don't deserve you...? don't you realise it was my fault?"

We aren't beating you up about it. Neither should we, Sunkern said, turning to them from his bout with Lance. 

"But..." *No buts*. "Okay." Loren cleared her throat. "Lance, I need you to use Sand Attack on this clearing over here; make a nice wide circle of sand. Bluewing, come here for a minute?" He came. "See if you can wet all the bushes around here. Just so there are no dry twigs sticking out, you know..." 

And she was back to being their trainer again. 

&

"First make a column of fire in front of you. It doesn't have to be very tall, but it must be strong."

Charger built the column with great care, extending it from just above her knees to a little over her head. She was tall for a Charmeleon, seven inches above the average height of 3'7"; the column came up almost to Loren's neck. Finally she was ready, and waited. 

"Split the column at intervals. I want there to be some air between each block. They don't have to be perfect, just fairly even."

The fire was getting harder to control, as Charger was forcing it into an unnatural shape. But soon, lumps of fire stood spaced out, in thin air, arranged into a column. 

"Take every second one, starting from the bottom, and rotate them around yourself."

Holding one paw in front of her to keep half of them still, Charger moved her other arm around in a circle in front of her. Every second mass of fire, separated from the others by a lot of air now, swung in a slow, careful circle around the Charmeleon. When they came full circle she tensed, strained, and passed each lump through the gaps left by the others. The fires wavered but they didn't mix. 

"Well done."

Charger knew what to do next. She revolved the moving lumps faster and faster, keeping the the circle they made perfect and neat, with her at the exact centre. She stretched out the blobs until they were dashes, then streamers of fire spinning round her. But as she elongated them into full rings, the stationary fireballs dissolved into the others, and the streaming fires began to swing erratically. Looking tired, Charger dropped the flames. 

&

They were making progress, but Loren knew it was hard for Charger to see that. They had been working on Fire Spin for a couple of hours now, with the other Pokémon exercising nearby. Finally, Charger was ready to try the next stage of the move. 

With full rings of fire rotating at every second level, Charger now took the stationary fireballs and began to spin them too... in the other direction. She was clumsy, and it didn't work very well. She dropped it and tried again, overheating a little. 

It was hard to imagine, now, that Charger could summon a wildfire that would threaten five humans and eight Pokémon, but then, it hadn't been the true Fire Spin that she'd summoned on Monday. It had been a kind of default, a cylinder of fire that flared and wavered. It was very dangerous. 

She was getting there now... the fires were spinning inside each other, tentatively but fairly smoothly. 

Then suddenly they merged, and became a cylinder of fire only just within Charger's control. 

Charger dropped the flames with a cry of desperation. She looked at the others, saw that they were all right, and drooped where she stood. "It's all right, Charger," Loren said gently. "You're doing superbly."

I can't control it. I'll never be able to control it. It's too dangerous.

"No it isn't." Loren caught Charger's eyes. "As long as you hold the fires, they will only burn what you want them to burn. And you can drop them - you've just done it twenty times - if you feel like they're getting out of control."

Suddenly she got up and walked over to Charger. She passed her left hand through the Charmeleon's tail flame. It was hot, and it hurt, but it didn't burn her. "You see?" she said, to Charger, who had jumped back. "You can control fire."

I will try again.

"Yes, but you need a rest first."

Charger sat down where she was. Loren gave her a potion and some ether. 

&

It was a week later; only two weeks were left to go in Sudayo's challenge. Loren had gone back into town just once, to zap her Pokémon at the Pokémon Centre. She'd made such a quick trip that she'd been in and out of the town in 30 minutes, since she'd gone in the early morning when there were no queues, and only Blissey and Chansey and subs were on duty. 

Charger had practised every day with Fire Spin; she could hold it in the air around her now, without fear of it turning into a fire tornado. She was always enough in-control to extinguish her flames if they showed the slightest sign of escaping her. In that, she felt more secure. But she could not yet summon Fire Spin as an attack, and make any prediction of what would happen to the opponent. 

She _had_ come a long way. 

She was leading the group now, as they searched through the woods. They were looking for Pokémon. 

Generally, this was one of Loren's team's favourite activities. There was an excited squeal from Clear now as she spotted a Pokémon on her right, and Shimmerzag and Charger rushed off to surround it. The others ran after them, coming to a stop in front of an alarmed Nidoran female. We challenge you to a battle! the Clefairy declared, recalling the correct formula. (Not 'correct' for ordinary Pokémon trainers, but Loren had invented this protocol and drilled them in it.)

"Neee - donee." Loren had to concentrate a moment to figure out what had been said, then she translated the speech into, All right.

Which of us do you choose to battle? Lance asked. 

The Nidoran looked surprised that she'd even been given a choice, then pleased. You, she said, pointing her little horn at Clear, who obviously looked the weakest. Actually, in levels, she _was_ the weakest... but not by very much. 

Clear looked very proud. You're on!

Loren and the other five formed a ring around Clear and her opponent. You may make the first move, Sunkern told the Nidoran dryly. 

The Nidoran nodded, and abruptly rushed forward. Clear hadn't been ready for an attack, and jumped only partly out of the way. She was hit hard. "Fayr!" she cried, as she hit the ground. The Nidoran reached the other edge of the ring and watched tensely for an attack. 

"Minimize," suggested Loren. The edges of Clear's body became indistinct and blurred. 

This was one of her strengths. Clefairy was younger than the rest, and less mature, which meant that often she needed to be given more direction than the others. But when she was given an instruction, she considered it and either instantly acted on it if it suited her, or instantly rejected it if she disagreed. She did not waste time or give her opponent a clue towards her actions. When she was older, she would be a fantastic battler. 

"Defense curl?" proposed Loren, erring on the side of caution. Instead, Clear leapt up, and came down with a solid **whump** on the Nidoran female's back. _Pound_. Clefairy was good at this attack. She jumped off again as if the Nidoran was a springboard, and began to vigorously Doubleslap her. 

The Nidoran writhed under her paws and used Poison Sting. The Clefairy leapt back with a shocked look and then scowled. With her unhurt paw, she scooped up a pile of dirt, breathed on it, and flung it at the Nidoran - somewhere along the way it became mud. It splattered on the side of the Nidoran's face. She didn't like that. 

Again the Nidoran rushed at Clear, but this time Clear sidestepped the attack. She Pounded her once more, then used one last Doubleslap and the Nidoran surrendered. 

Loren tossed her a berry, the Pokémon wished her well, and the Nidoran watched as the human and her team moved on, Loren rubbing cream into Clear's stung paw. 

In this way, they encountered several Pokémon. Two Oddish, one who wanted to battle and one who didn't; a Nidoran male; a Rattata and a few Abra (they fled); and a Wooper. 

All of her Pokémon had risen a few levels in the last few days, which suggested that the training scheme was actually working. Bluewing was level 31, Sunkern was level 30, Charger and Shimmerzag were level 29, Lance was level 28, and Clear was level 26. They were proud of this too. 

It was a little while before they saw another Pokémon. They were good at moving through the forest, but even so, wild Pokémon were easily alerted to their presence. The forest was dim, not as dim as the Ilex Forest to the southwest, but contained many of the same types of vegetation. The trees were tall with dense foliage, and ferns and other shrubs covered the ground. But Loren's team were careful in picking out their way. 

In Ilex Forest, so Loren had heard, you needed a flashlight almost all the time; only around midday was there light enough to see by. Loren wasn't sure if she believed this, since Sudayo was her informant, but she did know it was pretty dark. 

Suddenly, just in front of them, only a few metres away, a Doduo walked out of a fern. 

Loren froze; the others did too, except for Charger, Bluewing and Shimmerzag. Charger melted away into the bushes, trying not to give the group away with her tail flame, and Bluewing and Shimmerzag cut off to the side, flanking the Doduo. 

Their speed might not normally match that of the Flying/Normal Pokémon, but they had the element of surprise, and also, they were used to different terrain. This Doduo acted as though completely confused by this habitat, which was not surprising. Doduo were almost never found this far south. (Cinnamonville was closer to Azalea Town than Goldenrod City, and a little further east.)

In moments they had surrounded the Doduo, who looked extremely confused and worried. "We challenge you to a battle," said Bluewing, "If you accept, you must choose one of us to battle you."

"Very well..." the Doduo said (Loren translated her words with difficulty). "I choose..." She was obviously too proud to choose Sunkern or Clear, since Sunkern was at a major type disadvantage, and the Clefairy looked weak. But she couldn't win a battle with Shimmerzag, and Charger looked too strong for her. So Lance and Bluewing... and Bluewing was the stronger of the two, even if he couldn't fly as well. "Skarmory," said the Doduo finally. 

It was over quickly. Lance could stay up in the air, while the Doduo could only hop and float. Besides, Lance had his Steel Wing attack, plus Swift, and could use Sand Attack to deflect the Doduo's Tri Attack. One of those Tri Attacks hit him, with a lucky Burn, but by that time the Doduo was defeated. "Pokéball, go!" Loren called. 

The Doduo turned one head, startled, and the ball struck her and sucked her in. The Pokémon watched, Lance ignoring his burn, as they ringed the ball, whose occupant thrashed about. 

The Pokéball's light went out. But the tension in the air didn't leave. 

Lance fumbled for the Ice Berry Loren held out in her left hand. But he didn't take his eyes off the occupied Pokéball. As soon as he'd taken the Berry, Loren strode forward and picked up the ball. 

"Go, Pokémon!" Loren cried, casting the ball out of the ring. The Pokémon formed a semicircle facing the Doduo as she reappeared. 

"Doduo! Do you accept the conditions of my training?"

Do I have a choice? the Flying/Normal asked sullenly. 

"Yes." Loren stared into her four eyes - and suddenly realised that two eyes were blind. Moon-like circles of silvery white glowed in the right eyes of each head. *Were you trained before, Doduo?! Is that why you're here, hundreds of km's south or west of where your species usually lives? Did your previous trainer cause those eyes to go blind?*

The Doduo stared at Loren, sizing her up. She knew that she wouldn't survive long in this alien forest, not with a disability. She might be desperate enough to take Loren's offer - even though she probably distrusted humans. 

With her other head, she stared at Loren's Pokémon. Loren knew they all looked well cared for and strong. 

If I accept, will you release me later if I choose? the Doduo asked, with the head that was facing Loren. 

"Yes." Said Loren. "There are conditions, though. You may not decide to leave me in the middle of a battle, unless you have been hurt senselessly, or very, very badly. In most situations, I need a day's warning, or a good reason."

And how do I trust you?

Inside, Loren felt a flame of triumph. Here was her chance to truly win the Pokémon's loyalty - by knowing something that few trainers knew or bothered to honour. 

Pokémon usually considered being crippled as worse than death. They sealed their promises by putting one of their most valuable body parts on the line - a wing, for a flying Pokémon, or for a Grass Pokémon, their main leaf... It had to be something that one could live without, but that one depended on. The Pokémon called it one's 'point of honour'. 

"I swear on my right hand," said Loren. Because Pokémon thought there was no way better to cripple a human than to mangle their best hand. 

Doduo stared at her fiercely with both heads, probably shocked . "Do these Pokémon vouch for you?" 

Without hesitation, each of them stepped forward, their point of honour presented to the Doduo. For Lance and Bluewing, it was their left wings. For Shimmerzag, it was her right cheek sac. They stood, silently challenging the Doduo. Then they stepped back again. 

Do you promise to respect the conditions we live by? 

The Doduo cackled a laugh. Once you have explained them to me, I will decide. 

"Then come back with us to our camp." Loren said, glad. "And we need to get you cleaned up, too. Your Tri Attack's good, though."

She pulled a few berries out of her pack, and a Max Elixer. The Doduo accepted them. And at this point, Loren's Pokédex began to beep at her. 

"Pokémon capacity has been breached. You carry one Pokémon over the limit. This is illegal. Pokémon capacity has..." It repeated itself. 

"I'm deciding which Pokémon to send to Professor Jacaranda, okay, Doc?" Loren said, irritated. 

"There is a maximum limit of ten minutes. Decide quickly."

*Dumb A-I.* Loren had a bad relationship with her Pokédex/gear. She'd taken to calling it 'Piddle' until it had shut down all functions in protest, then adopted 'Doc', which it grudgingly accepted. The thing wasn't very bright, but was very annoying. A bad combination. 

Of course, Pokédexes had come a long way since her parents were trainers. Back then, as soon as you caught a seventh Pokémon, it was whisked away and you didn't even get a chance to talk to it. It had even been legal to shut down the thought processes of Pokémon in computer 'storage'! Now, obviously, it was illegal. Thank the Pokégods. 

I'll go. Bluewing said. 

Loren nodded. His level was the highest in the group, so he wouldn't have to catch up too much when he returned. She would miss him, but that was the price of catching a new Pokémon. 

She returned him to his Pokéball, and placed it on the receptacle on the top left-hand corner of the Pokédex. 

"Is this the Pokémon you are sending back?" Doc asked, displaying Bluewing's statistics on its screen. 

"Yes, Doc, it is." She brought the 'dex up to her face. "Say hi to Midori for me, and all the Pokémon," she whispered into the Pokéball. Then, with a whoosh of air, Bluewing was transported. "Thank you, Doc."

"You are now at maximum carrying capacity for Pokémon."

"Go on standby, Doc," Loren ordered. It obeyed, and Loren put it away. 

As if reading Loren's mind, Shimmerzag jumped on to her shoulder, filling Bluewing's place and putting the same weight on her that the Mantine usually did. 

&

"That's our camp," Loren finally told the Doduo, pointing out a boundary flag that marked their area. "Now, what would you like to eat?"

Doduo were omnivores, preferring to live on grassy plains. Loren was sure she had something suitable. Whatever you eat, the Doduo replied wearily. I don't really care.

Loren nodded and passed her flags. 

If properly marked out and claimed, a trainer's camp was sacrosanct. No other person could pass between the flags without permission - unless it was an emergency, or they had an official warrant. There were limits to the camps, of course - they couldn't cover more than a certain area, they couldn't include a resource such as a water supply or a berry bush, and they couldn't include certain types of Pokémon nests. 

But there was someone in Loren's camp. Not a human; a Pokémon. 

Loren suppressed a gasp. It wasn't just any Pokémon. It was a shining Teddiursa. 

&

She didn't gasp, but the Teddiursa was alerted anyway. It pivoted and Leered at all of them, then began to run. 

"Stop!" Loren called, blinking away the attack. It turned again and its eyes began to cloud dangerously. 

What? It demanded. Don't move, or I'll icebeam the human, it added to Shimmerzag. 

When you are threatening someone, it is advisable to use a threat that even the most stupid will believe, Sunkern said mildly. Even though you are shining, you must be rare indeed if you can use an ice attack.

The Teddiursa snarled. Believe it.

Loren did. She'd seen the attack used before. "There is food," she said carefully, "in the red box on the left side of the tent. That's all."

That's all? the Teddiursa said sceptically. It looked tired and in bad condition. Its Pokémon speech was remarkably clear and easy to interpret. It was male. 

"That's all," Loren repeated. "If you don't want it, or if you have already eaten it, you might as well go. I carry berries but you can find them for yourself in the woods."

You're a trainer! the Teddiursa said. 

"Yes, I am."

And you dont even want to catch me!

"No, I don't."

Believe her! Lance screeched in rage. 

I have already eaten some of your food, the Teddiursa said. It was easy to find.

Then, almost too quick to see, Lance used a Swift attack, knocking the Teddiursa over. His developing Ice Beam attack flickered out. Immediately, Sunkern wrapped the Shining Pokémon in vines, and Shimmerzag zapped him. 

Then you have stolen from us, Lance said You have attacked us, threatened our lives, trespassed, and also offended us. On your own self be it.

No! The Teddiursa scrambled up, but Sunkern twitched his tendrils and the Teddiursa fell again. No! Lance meant to scar him, and the Teddiursa was scared.

Loren stayed silent, trusting her Pokémon. 

You're pathetic, said Charger coolly, walking over. You are weak and not very bright. You obviously let trainer-paranoia control you, and as a result you're wearing yourself ragged trying to avoid humans. And of all places you choose to live, it has to be a popular trainer forest. You don't even seem to know basic survival techniques. She cocked her head and examined him. But you are young, she added condescendingly. 

Loren realised that Charger was right. She'd been deceived his attitude, but she now saw that the Teddiursa was very young and low-level. She was surprised he hadn't been captured already. 

I have never been out of this forest, said the Teddiursa to Charger. I don't know where else to go.

You were born here? asked Clear. 

Yes. I am an orphan.

Then we offer you a deal. Sunkern said. You will allow this trainer to mark you in a way that will restrict you, but will not allow another trainer to catch you in a Pokéball. We will train you and teach you how to survive, and you will honour us and this trainer.

I don't trust you.

You don't have a choice.

The Teddiursa stared up at them with big, lost eyes. O... kay...

On your self, Lance reminded him, and slashed viciously with his beak, making a deep gash down the back of the Teddiursa's right ear. He squealed and sat down, and Sunkern unwrapped his tendrils. 

This was Pokémon justice. Sometimes it sickened Loren, but in this case she understood it. 

She threw a Pokéball while the Teddiursa was still stunned, and its light went off almost immediately. Before her Pokédex could start beeping at her, she released him, and smashed the Pokéball against a rock, turning it into a formal Release. 

"Pokémon capture and instant Pokémon release. Status is still maximum Pokémon carrying capacity," the Pokédex stated, sounding a little shaken. 

Loren picked up one of the Pokéball fragments and got a special awl out of the tent. Very soon, she had whittled a hole in the fragment. Then she found a type of cord in her supplies and threaded the Pokéball fragment through it. Finally, she tied this cord around the neck of the Teddiursa, tight enough so that nothing would be able to come between the cord and his neck, but just loose enough so that it wouldn't choke him. It sank into his fur and became almost invisible. 

One of the many benefits of Pokeballs was that they halted uncontrolled bleeding. The Teddiursa's ear gash was forming a scab already, although it would never fully heal. He would always have a scar. 

The capture/ release/ fragment procedure that Loren had just used was quasi-legal at best, but it would serve her purposes, especially since she had no intention of battling the Teddiursa officially. Her 'claim' on him was only to protect him from other trainers - and he had consented. 

*We make our own traps - and we fall into them too,* she thought, as the Pokémon settled into their chore routine and she began to prepare an early dinner for them all. 

&

A Natu was singing in the top of a nearby tree as the sun set. It was interesting, Loren thought, the way they always liked to perch at the very top of trees when singing their beautiful song… *I'd like to have a Natu someday* she thought restfully, sitting with her back up against a tree and gazing into the campfire as she groomed the Doduo. 

"The Pokémon that I train, usually have nicknames," she told the Flying/ Normal. "Do you want to have one? You don't have to have one – Sunkern doesn't."

The Doduo didn't answer. "Did you have a nickname before?" Loren pursued. "You did, didn't you? What was it?" Clear gave her a reproachful look, and the Doduo shifted uncomfortably. 

She called me Sunflash, the Doduo said softly, but unhappily. 

"Is that your name?" 

No! It's not my name! I don't want that name! She made it up!

*Or maybe she didn't, if she'd read Brian Jacques,* Loren thought wryly. "You don't have to have that name. _I'm_ training you now, not her. What name do you want?" 

I'm not just of the sun, now, the Doduo said slowly. Two of my eyes are dark. I'm both light and dark now… call me Moon. The moon is half light and half darkness… and I have two moons in my eyes…

"Welcome, Moon," said Loren solemnly. 

"Did you really have to do that?" said the expressions on Shimmerzag's and Charger's faces. Loren looked guiltily down at Moon. Pokémon feared being crippled more than anything else… and here was a Doduo who had been half-blinded already. If Loren's suspicions were correct, it was the Doduo's last trainer who had blinded her – and then released her into an area in which she had no hope of surviving. 

*I wouldn't like to meet that trainer,* Loren thought, a little scared. *The kind of deliberate cruelty she must possess – to destroy Moon's eyes so methodically, not in an act of violence, but by using chemicals, or a surgical procedure… and to just get rid of her… Pokégods. Oh, Pokégods.* 

But if she ever did meet her… Loren clenched her fists. *Oh, if _ever_…* That trainer… wouldn't know what had hit her. 

*I'd kill her,* Loren thought. *If I could… if I was angry enough…* But for now, she thought a bit more sensibly, all she could do was inform the police, and look out for the unknown trainer… keeping Moon out of her Pokéball, but protected. 

&

Quite suddenly, as Loren was about to order her team to bed, Doc beeped. It was a certain type of beep that meant someone was trying to contact her. 

Loren got up, switched on the Pokégear, and in its screen's green light, read an email. It was from Dylan, the Cinnamonville Gymleader. 

"Hey, gather round, guys," she called. "You might want to read this." That was figurative, because none of them _could_ read. 

"'Dear Trainer Loren,'" she read aloud, "'Congratulations on the Blitz Badge. If you would like to come to assess the battle, it is a service provided by the gym. I would very much appreciate your company tomorrow, as I am mainly free; I also have other things to discuss with you. Yours respectfully, Dylan. PS: I left a message at the Pokémon Centre, but according to Nurse Joy Celia, you have not visited it for more than a week. I hope you are well.' Well, that was rather formal," she added. "But look – he signed it Dylan. Interesting. I wonder what those 'other things to discuss' are?"

Intriguing, commented Sunkern. 

We did fine at his gym. What's this assessment about? said Clear, looking loyally at Shimmerzag. 

"I'd like to find out," Loren said. "Let's go."

And soon, a reply email was sent to the gymleader of Cinnamonville, thanking him kindly and accepting his invitation. 

&

"Hi… you wanted to see me?" asked Loren the next day, standing on the doorstep of Dylan's office. 

"Yes, I did, please come in," said Dylan, getting up from his chair. "First of all," he said, "here's the tape of your gym battle. Would you actually like to discuss it?"

"Well," said Loren, clearly gathering up her courage, "I was wondering what those 'other things' were that you wanted to discuss…"

She trailed off. She had just caught sight of Caira. 

Dylan was amused. "Meet Caira," he said. "She's a Blitzkat. Her type is psychic/electric, and she doesn't evolve, or have a pre-evolved form… we think. She comes from the Ember Valley."

Loren closed her mouth but she couldn't stop herself staring. Dylan didn't blame her – Caira was magnificent. The huge feline resembled some kind of leopard in shape, although dark gray in colour. She had a small, soft white mane that trailed down her back a little, and streaking down her sides were faint marks of a lighter gray, hard to pick out, that resembled forks of lightning. Sometimes, in the darkness, they glowed. 

Her eyes were huge and golden and her ears were tufted with golden fur. Her tail was long, with gold markings scattered along it, and an elegant white tuft at the end, and each of her paws had wicked-looking pale gray claws. 

"Don't ask how I got her," Dylan said, "it's a very strange story.." *And a rather sentimental one,* he thought. "I could call her my guardian…"

"But I have my own agenda," said Caira, stretching to her feet. "An honour to meet you, Loren of Cianwood.

"Never mind _asking_ her," the Blitzkat added to Dylan. "You _will_ travel with her. She's Chosen, and she'll need your help."

"What…" said Loren. Dylan, being used to Caira's more annoying habits, picked up the thread, 

"Chosen? Anyway, I need to leave the gym and go on another Pokémon journey," he said. 

"And he needed a companion, since he was somewhat out of practice. And since you understood your Pokémon so well, he decided to ask you – well, his Pokémon and I convinced him to." Caira stared at Loren. "And now that I've seen who you are... I'll have to come too." 

And suddenly she locked Loren's eyes with her own and began to speak silently, just to her - ~It's all right, Loren. But I meant what I said about you - you are Chosen, and you will need his help.~

*What do you mean... um...* Loren tried to think towards the psychic/electric. 

~I'm Caira - no other titles. No _nicknames_, either. And do you think I can _explain_ prophecy? Concentrate on something a little closer to the ground... for the moment, anyway.~

"But why me?" said Loren aloud to both of them. 

"You could be a very good battler, for one thing," Dylan said. "And you've got amazing Pokémon rapport - really amazing. I could teach you a lot of things about style..."

"I won't the be the only one who learns something," retorted Loren. "Okay."

They stared at her and she began to continue – "But I can't start out again until May, so you'll have to wait again –"

"That's all right," said Dylan, smiling, "I couldn't find a gymleader replacement until then anyway." *Pokégods! She accepted! Now I've just got to find out what Caira means, and why she's so adamant that we should travel together...*

"You're still looking?" asked Loren. "I know who'd be _perfect_ for the job." Proxy Caleb, one of the Ten back at Pokémon tech. 

And suddenly Sudayo's challenge didn't seem like the doom it had been at the beginning, and her journey didn't feel like the waste and the failure it had almost become... She might even beat Sudayo. Or not. But she'd won a badge and she would be travelling with a Blitzkat and a gymleader... Now maybe... well, she didn't know exactly what was different, but everything seemed a lot brighter. Bright enough to look towards the future again... Bright enough to light the entire Ilex Forest. Even if it was as dark as Sudayo claimed. 

A/N: Well, that's it from Loren for the moment. Next story will either be about Proxy Caleb or Midori Jacaranda. Don't worry, they're at least as interesting... 


End file.
